Taipei - Taiwan has arrested a retired Taiwan military
officer who has been selling military secrets to China, local press
reported Friday.
Colonel Wang Hui-hsien, 42, a former member of the Military
Intelligence Bureau (MIB), was detained early Friday after being
questioned by prosecutors of the Taiwan High Court, the Central News
Agency and the United Daily News reported.
Wang was a section chief in MIB in charge of analyzing
intelligence on China. He retired six years ago and went to China to
do business and was allegedly recruited by national security agents
in Shanghai to spy for China.
Wang leaked information to China about deployment of MIB spies in
China. When he returned to Taiwan in 2005, he tried to recruit fellow
retired MIB members to spy for China, inviting them to meals and
discussing working for China.
Following a tip, police arrested Wang Thursday at his Taipei home.
Prosecutor Wang Jen-kui questioned Wang Hui-hsien Thursday evening
and remanded him into custody early Friday on charges of stealing
national defence secrets.
Wang has confessed to passing information to China in exchange for
convenience in doing business in China, the United Daily News said.
He has named to prosecutors two former MIB colleagues who helped
him gather intelligence to give to China.
If convicted, Wang could face a maximum seven-year sentence for
stealing state secrets.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 when the Chinese Nationalist
government lost the Chinese Civil War and fled to Taiwan to set up
its government-in-exile.
Although cross-strait tensions have eased since the 1980s, Taiwan
and China still regard each other as enemies.
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